Is there anything else I can do? I already supliment with glucosamine/chondrontin, and am considering vitamine c (calcium ascorbate). My wife mentioned my little vit-c plan to the vet and she recommended against it because of what some nutritionist told her.

I think I'm going to drop by the vet's office to take a look at the films myself.

Swimming would be great for your little mutt! It's no impact so the dog can build up muscle without stressing the joint! One problem with HD is that the dog doesn't use the hip because of the pain and the muscles begin to atrophy. If you are concerned about your vets diagnosis I would ask for a Orth. referal/consultation. I know I always say "see a specialist" but honestly they are your very very best resource!

Try Synflex. This is also a glucosamine chondroitin supplement, but the only difference you see from the others is...It works! You can find it here...
http://www.easysource.com/synflex/syn_pets.htm?id= It's expensive but it's worth a shot. What have you got to lose?

Reba's got elbow AND hip dysplasia, which somehow managed to never got noticed till she was 11. She never limped much or showed any signs of discomfort till about 6 months or so ago. All of her vets figured arthritis till this year we finally had films taken and realized that she was so far gone that there's nothing to be done but pain remediation.

The sad part is that now she's so damn lame that she can't do any of the things she likes to do, like chase balls or squirrels or hike. So we swim. A lot. We found a couple of indoor doggie swimming pools that we go to as often as we can--once or twice a week.

Her saving grace is her muscle tone--she's always been a very active dog and that's the only thing the vets figure is keeping her walking. So swim, swim, swim, keep your dog in shape, keep the weight down, keep those joints as strong as possible. Get your dog on Synflex or Glycoflex, I am also supplementing with both Vit. C, E, and Fish Oil, which I figure can only help. Good luck--but from an old lady dog to a young dog, all I can say is that it doesn't necessarily mean the end of the world!

That really sucks JB.
I agree with Sarah. Go to a specialist. They will know better what can be done. He's young enough that surgery may be the best option, I have a friend who's dog had both hips done at the age of 8 months. She's now suffering from elbow displasia but her hips are strong as can be. It ain't cheap but when you consider he may live 15 years???

By the way, someone told me that she used the Gold Wire Implant for her AB when he was dysplatic and that it worked wonders. It's a small implant that goes in the ear and it acts like a constant acupunture to a pressure point in the inner ear. It's supposed to be a great pain reliever.

I just got off the horn with the vet. She's going to set up an appointment with a specialist so we can look into getting a TPO done. That's the operation where they chop the socket off and reattach it so it fits the ball better. Pretty gruesome stuff but I've read that the sucess rate is super high. If she's a good candidate for the surgery, I think I'll do it up.